Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications

Expressway Services: Bus Eireann and NTA

9:30 am

Photo of Brian StanleyBrian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Will Ms Graham clarify what she said with regard to the free travel scheme and the fact that where new services are established, people will not be able to use their passes? What is the position regarding replacement services in circumstances where Bus Éireann provides a subsidised service?

I accept that the company is constrained in the context of resources - Ms Graham and I have discussed this issue on many occasions - but some of the shelters erected at bus stops are huge and could easily accommodate 20 people. However, the most one would ever see at such stops is one, two or three individuals. What are needed at bus stops in rural areas are simple structures that would perhaps be one quarter the size of those currently being erected. These shelters should face away from the road in order that people would be protected from the spray caused by trucks, etc. I saw one such structure when passing through Strabane in recent days and all it involves is a few upright sheets of Perspex with a small, slanted roof on top. In addition, the shelter in question faces away from the road. The entire structure was not much more than 1 m in length by 0.5 m in depth and I am sure the cost relating to it was extremely low. I stopped to inspect it and discovered that information relating to all bus services on the route was provided on the sign attached to it. The shelter is small and was obviously cheap to construct.

Some of the shelters built by Adshel in this jurisdiction are extremely big. I accept that these are required in places such as Monasterevin because there could be 20 or 30 people queuing for a bus at any given time. In some rural areas, however, one might only see one, two or three people queuing at bus stops. All that would be needed at such stops is simple structure that would prevent the spray from lorries from hitting people in the queue. If a shelter faces out into the road, people can often be splashed by spray from passing vehicles. If the back of the shelter faces outward, however, protection is provided. I reiterate my point that all that is required at bus stops in many rural areas is a simple structure with a small, tilted roof on top.

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